


Psychic

by gretawhy



Category: NSYNC
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 11:54:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10639326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gretawhy/pseuds/gretawhy





	

See, the thing about Chris was that he was psychic.

Not in the sense that he could predict things, or that he knew when huge things were about to happen, but in the sense that he just had a feeling when something was wrong with the others.

Like that time he knew Kelly and Joey were stressing over their daughter. He somehow knew that all they needed was a night out, some time away from Brianna. So he showed up on their doorstep, the other guys in tow, handed Joey and Kelly a key to a hotel room, and pushed them out the door, telling them to “Not even think about calling, the four of us have everything under control.” They didn’t, of course since the four of them never took care of a baby before, and had to call Justin’s mom to come over and help change her diaper. But it got Joey and Kelly out of the house for a night, and the next day Joey was back to his normal cheery non-stressed self.

Or the time that he just knew that this JC situation was getting to Lance. Ever since JC had come out to the guys he had a strange fascination with everything Lance did. He would follow Lance around and stare at him dreamily when he was on the phone, he would call Lance at all hours of the day wanting to hang out, and pretty much follow Lance around like a high school girl with a crush. It hadn’t bothered Lance in the beginning, being that he was a good Southern boy with good Southern manners who was perpetually straight, he just shrugged off JC’s attention and pretty much let him do whatever he wanted. But now, Chris just knew Lance was having doubts about who he was because he was letting his fingers stray to JC’s hair as JC lie in his lap, or he was finding himself seeking out JC’s company when he was bored. So Chris showed up at Lance’s house with a case of Mike’s Hard Lemonade and the two of them proceeded to get drunk, allowing Chris to eventually steer the conversation around to Lance’s developing feelings towards JC.

Then there was the time Chris showed up at JC’s house, apparently out of the blue to find JC slumped over the piano, his fingers frozen on the keys, no sound coming from the instrument that was normally alive under JC’s talented hands. JC had found out that most likely only one of his songs was going to be on the new album, and he felt like a failure. Chris stayed with him, letting him cry on his shoulder, telling him that he wasn’t a failure, look how many of his songs were on _No Strings Attached_ , and hey, he had a song on the _Grinch_ soundtrack and they wouldn’t have used it if he was a failure. Finally, Chris somehow knew that JC needed to see Lance and discreetly called Lance while JC was in the bathroom, telling him to get his albino ass over to JC’s house because now would be a good time to tell JC that he had feelings for him.

Chris wasn’t just psychic with the other guys, it extended to people he was close to, people the other guys were close to. Like, he knew how being JC’s beard was starting to get to Bobbie, because she had genuine feelings for JC, and it killed her a little more each time JC turned his face so her kiss landed on his cheek and not his lips. Or how he would call Dani at the time when she thought she was going crazy running the company and make a few decisions, thereby lessening her load. And he would even somehow know when Kelly was having a rough time with the pregnancy, calling her up and bringing her ice cream when she needed it.

It got so weird to the others that one day while they were on the bus, the guys tried to see if Chris could in fact, read their minds.

“I can’t,” Chris said for the tenth time, “trust me, I cannot read your minds.” They were sitting at the table, Justin asleep on the couch.

Lance squinted at him from across the table, “I’m thinking of a number between one and ten, what is it?”

“Four,” Chris said and Lance’s jaw dropped. Chris rolled his eyes, “Lance, you always think of four. Whenever someone has to guess a number from you, it’s always four! I didn’t read your mind.”

Joey’s head was in the refrigerator, “Okay, what am I thinking?” he asked as he shut the door and sat down next to Chris.

Chris sighed and rested his chin on the table, “You’re wondering who the hell ate the leftover half of your hoagie.” He banged his head off the table, “Come on, guys, I just know you that well.” He looked up at JC as he opened his mouth, “Don’t even go there, Chasez, cause I don’t think you want me telling everyone what you want to do to Lance later on tonight.”

JC’s face turned red and Lance looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, “You can tell me,” he told Chris and JC groaned.

Justin’ voice floated to them from where he lay on the couch. “I’m thinking y’all should shut the hell up cause I’m trying to sleep.”

***** 

Even though Chris was in tune with all of them, the one he had the most connection with was Justin. He always knew where the kid was. Anytime someone was looking for Justin, they would come to Chris.

“Playing basketball,” Chris offered one time to Joey while he was watching TV on Justin’s couch.

“Taking a nap in the quiet room,” he told Johnny one night before their show.

“I would check the bathroom,” he told Lance, to which Lance backed away, mumbling that it wasn’t really that important.

And yet, when whoever asked Chris would go looking for Justin, they would always find him right where Chris said he would be.

And Chris always knew when to leave Justin alone. He could tell by looking at him in the mornings if he was in a bad mood or not. Joey could never figure this out, telling Chris that Justin always looked like he was in a bad mood before he had his cereal. Chris just shook his head, telling Joey that he had a different look when he was going to be in a bad mood all day. Joey had walked away muttering something about the damn psychic that he lived with.

What Chris couldn’t get through to the guys is that it wasn’t a psychic connection, it was just the result of living with them or near them for the past six years. He didn’t understand how the others weren’t the same way as him. When you spend that much time with people, you develop a sixth sense about these things.

That was how Chris ended up knocking on Justin’s hotel room door the night they got the final track listing for _Celebrity_. They were in Hershey, somewhere they were playing more than one show, which meant a night in the hotel and not on a bus.

When Justin opened the door, Chris smiled at him and pushed his way into the room. “You okay, Justin?”

Justin shrugged, “Yeah, why.”

Chris looked at him and just knew that he was lying. He waved the piece of paper in his hand in the air, “I just got the tracks from Johnny.” He peered at Justin, “you sure you’re okay?”

Justin sighed and slumped on the couch. “No,” he whispered.

Chris sat down next to him and Justin rested his head on Chris’s shoulder. “Want to talk about it?”

Justin sniffed, “I just feel terrible, Chris. I mean, I’m thrilled my songs got on the new album, but what about JC?”

Chris put his arm around Justin’s shoulders, rubbing the curve of his arm though his tee shirt, “JC will be okay,” he told Justin. “Remember, we all voted on the songs.”

Justin nodded against him, “I know. But still. He’s got to be upset about this, he only got one song!”

“Do I have to remind you how many songs he had on _Strings_?” Chris asked.

Justin pulled away from him, wiping his eyes and playing with the bottom of his tee shirt, “Yeah, but none of them were singles,” Justin whispered. He met Chris’s eyes, “I have the first single.”

Chris watched Justin wrestle with his guilt, “There’s more, isn’t there?” Chris asked softly.

Justin smiled, “How do you know that?” he laughed. Sobering, he nodded, “I just...I just feel like me and JC are always competing. I mean, we’re the guys who sing lead, we’re the ones that most of the fans scream for because of it, and we’re the ones who people are expecting to have solo careers after all this.” He looked at Chris as tears formed in his eyes, “He’s been one of my best friends for as long as I can remember, and I hate competing with him, and I hate feeling like he hates me because more of my songs are on the album.”

“Justin, JC would never hate you,” Chris reassured him.

“I know that,” Justin said, “but this is all he has.” Chris cocked his head, silently telling Justin to continue, “You have your clothing, Lance has his company, and Joey always wanted to act. And if this would all end tomorrow, I still have my foundation to work on, you know? But this,” he motioned to Chris sheet of paper, “This is all he has. Music is his life, Chris. And a little thing like this, like not having more songs on the CD, that’s got to kill him. He must feel like he failed.”

Chris pulled Justin close to him again, “Trust me, Justin, JC is not a failure. He wants to produce, he’s been doing that, too, so it’s not all about the writing.” He felt Justin nod against his shoulder, “And he would never hate you for succeeding, you know that.”

Justin pulled back slightly and looked up at Chris, “I’m kind of being stupid, aren’t I?”

Chris grinned, “I wouldn’t say stupid, exactly.”

Justin smiled at him and after a moment, he softly said, “Thanks.”

Chris looked into his eyes and felt like he was drowning, “You’re welcome,” he replied.

And Chris suddenly wished he could read minds. As he sat there, looking down into Justin’s upturned face, looking at those perfect lips, those clear blue eyes, Chris wished he knew exactly what Justin was thinking. Because, in his mind, Justin was repeating two words over and over. “Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me. Kiss me, Chris.”

“Kiss me, Chris,” Justin said softly.

Maybe he was psychic after all.


End file.
